The 354th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as a standard Red Army rifle division, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It took part in the defense of Moscow and the winter counteroffensive of 1941–42, and then in the costly battles around the German salient near Rzhev. It also served in the defensive battle of Kursk and the summer offensive that followed in 1943. The division distinguished itself in at least three battles. It was credited with the liberation of the town of Kalinkovichi on January 14, 1944, and shared credit with other formations for the liberation of Bobruisk during Operation Bagration. It also played the leading role in the defense of 65th Army's bridgehead over the Narev River in October, 1944. During the final offensives into Germany in 1945 it advanced through Poland and Pomerania and ended the war near Stettin. The 354th compiled a highly distinguished record of service, but nevertheless was disbanded in June, 1946.
Formation The division was organized at Penzensk in the Volga Military District, starting on August 11, 1941, through to the end of October, when it began moving to the front.Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2006, p. 79 Its full order of battle was as follows: 1199th Rifle Regiment 1201st Rifle Regiment 1203rd Rifle Regiment 921st Artillery Regiment 476th Sapper Battalion 645th Antiaircraft Battalion 809th Signal Battalion 443rd Medical Battalion 420th Reconnaissance Company 473rd Truck Company 436th Chemical Defense CompanyCharles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 90 Col. Dmitrii Fyodorovich Alekseev was named divisional commander on September 1. Alekseev had the advantage of starting with an unusually strong cadre for this period of the war; 35 percent of his officers were active-duty, and he received a large number of high-morale, experienced Communist Party members from the Penzensk party organization.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90 Alekseev would be promoted to Major General on May 19, 1943, and apart from a few weeks in October/November, 1943, he would remain in command until nearly the end of that year.
Battle of Moscow On November 26 the 354th was assigned to 16th Army, under command of Lt. Gen. K.K. Rokossovski, part of Western Front defending before Moscow. In early December the 16th Army joined in the Soviet counteroffensive against German Army Group Center. The division first went on the offensive on the morning of December 3, reaching the southern outskirts of Matushkino by late afternoon.Dr. Boris Sokolov, Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2015, p. 143 According to the Soviet General Staff study of the battle, the release of the 354th from the reserve enabled 16th Army to not only actively defend the line but to also go over to a partial counter-offensive on that date.Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Moscow, ed. & trans. R.W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2017, Kindle ed., part III, ch. 3
By December 14 the division was fighting along the western bank of the reservoir of the Istra River, reaching Armyagovo with two companies before coming under organized German fire and being forced to pull back with heavy losses to their jumping-off position. Despite such occasional setbacks, the Germans were forced back from the Istra line by December 16 and over the next four days were continually pursued by 16th Army to the Ruza River. During this period the 354th was officially credited with capturing 130 motor vehicles, 13 guns and 30 tanks.Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Moscow, part IV, ch. 2
During that month the 354th was reinforced with the 274th Antitank Battalion (12 45mm guns, 27 PTRD antitank rifles); in addition, each rifle regiment had its own company of 27 PTRDs, giving the division a very strong antitank defense for a rifle division of this period. At the same time, however, the 645th AA Battalion was replaced with the 307th AA Battery, with just 4 37mm guns. In early 1942 the 354th was further reinforced with the 516th Mortar Battalion.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90 The division pushed on in the counteroffensive, taking the villages of Terekhovo, Kniazhevo, and Ignatkovo on January 20, 1942, but by now was down to the strength of an oversize battalion.Sokolov, p. 153
Battles of Rzhev The division spent all of 1942 and early 1943 in Western Front. It was reassigned to the 5th Army in late January, where it remained until it was moved to the 20th Army in July, and then briefly to 31st Army before returning to the 20th. In late October the 516th Mortar Battalion, as well as the mortar battalions in each rifle regiment, were disbanded, and the weapons were redistributed to the individual rifle companies.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90
In the late stages of Operation Mars, the 354th, now part of the 8th Guards Rifle Corps in 20th Army, and one of the few fresh units available to the Western Front command, was directed to attack German strongholds in the villages of Khlepen and Zherebtsovo, beginning on November 30. The division's assault briefly threatened the 2nd Battalion of the 13th Panzergrenadier Regiment with complete encirclement, but in the process the division had suffered "immense casualties" and could not complete its mission.David M. Glantz, Zhukov's Greatest Defeat, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1999, p. 190 The division then went back into Western Front reserves for rebuilding.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 37 By the end of January, the division was back up to 75% of its authorized manpower, but only 70% of the required horses and 25% of the authorized trucks and tractors.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90
Battle of Kursk In February, 1943, the 354th was reassigned to Lt. Gen. P.I. Batov's 65th Army in Rokossovski's Central Front (former Don Front).Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, p. 63 The division would continue under the command of Batov and Rokossovski for the duration of the war. The Front was deployed to the Kursk area, most of it from Stalingrad, a movement that took longer than expected due to persistent poor weather and deteriorating roads. A situation report by Rokossovski's chief of operations on February 24 stated as follows: During the following weeks the division helped make gains in a gap between the German 2nd Army and 2nd Panzer Army until German reserves freed up by their evacuation of the Rzhev salient brought the advance to a halt.Glantz; After Stalingrad, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2009, pp. 284-85 The 354th remained in the Kursk salient through the following months, including Operation Citadel. 65th Army's positions were in the western sector of the bulge, and were not directly involved in the German offensive.
Battles for Belarus Following the German defeat at Kursk, Central Front began advancing westward out of the salient. During the following months the division was assigned first to the 18th and then to the 19th Rifle Corps.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943, pp. 220, 249 Two months of offensive campaigning gradually wore down the 354th until by September each rifle regiment had only two battalions of three companies, each company with 55 - 60 men. The machine gun companies had five or six guns each, and the mortar companies two or three tubes total. The 921st Artillery Regiment had 20 guns and howitzers, and the 274th Antitank Battalion was down to just 8 45mm guns; in summary, the division was at about 63% of its authorized strength in guns and mortars.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90
Gomel-Rechitsa Offensive In spite of this, on September 28 the 1203rd Rifle Regiment, reinforced by the 257th Separate Army Shtrafnaya (Penal) Company,Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 90 made a successful assault crossing of the Sozh River at Novaya Tereshkovichi.Sharp states this was a crossing of the Desna River, which is contradicted by Glantz. On the following day, the rest of the division crossed the river, and General Batov reinforced this bridgehead with a handful of tanks from the Army's 255th Tank Regiment. Shortly thereafter he ordered the 37th Guards and 140th Rifle Divisions to reinforce the bridgehead as well. On October 1 the three divisions attacked the German 6th Infantry Division's positions, and having breached them, fanned out to liberate the villages of Noyve and Starye Diatlovichi in heavy fighting.Glantz, Battle for Belorussia, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2016, pp. 99, 101-02 From October 18 to November 21 the division was temporarily under the command of Maj. Gen. Porfyrii Sergeevich Furt, until Alekseev returned to command.
By October 20, 65th Army's attacks had bogged down on this sector, and the offensive towards Gomel was temporarily halted. However, on October 15, a further attack by forces on the left wing of Rokossovksky's front (soon to be renamed Belorussian Front) forced a passage across the Dniepr in the area of Love and gained ground fast; by the 20th the Soviet forces had carved out a bridgehead 90 km wide and 16 km deep across the Dniepr, and went on to try to cut the rail line from Rechitsa to Gomel. In order to sustain this advance, Batov had already been ordered to reinforce this bridgehead with the 354th and 246th Rifle Divisions, and they were accordingly re-subordinated to the 27th Rifle Corps. This bridgehead was also reinforced with the 9th Tank and 7th Guards Cavalry Corps. They faced three extremely worn-down divisions of the German XX Army Corps. Even before the regrouping was complete, on October 20, 65th Army's renewed assault overran the German defenses, forcing the defenders back about 2 km between the Dniepr and Radul. On October 24, the divisions of 27th Corps punched a 5-km-wide breach in the positions of 102nd Infantry Division south of Lipniaki, into which Batov committed the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps. Only an intervention by a battle group of 2nd Panzer Division contained it. Heavy fighting raged for more than a week until German 2nd Army was forced to begin a phased withdrawal to new positions in the rear. By October 28, 27th Corps had advanced another 15 – 20 km, as much as 23 km northwest of Love, linking up with the advancing forces of 61st Army, but the forces of both armies had by now "shot their bolt", and a halt was called on October 30.Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 114–118, 121
Over the next ten days Belorussian Front carried out another regrouping to continue the offensive and encircle and destroy the German Rechitsa-Gomel grouping. 65th Army remained in the center of the Front's main attack sector, with 27th Corps on the right wing. The 354th was in the first echelon, along with the 115th Rifle Brigade. The Corps' mission was: The order went on to set further objectives. The offensive reopened on November 10, and in the first two days the 27th and 19th Rifle Corps had carved out a penetration which was then exploited into the Germans' operational rear by 1st Tank and 7th Guards Cavalry Corps. On November 13, 27th Corps, with the assistance of elements of the tank Corps, captured Demekhi, 12 km west of Rechitsa, cutting the German rail line to that city from the west. The 354th then led a wheeling movement to the northwest, attempting to reach the Berezina River south of Parichi. By nightfall on November 20 the division was approaching Vasilkov, 25 km northwest of Rechitsa, and on the same day the Germans faced reality and withdrew from the city, which was liberated by elements of 42nd Rifle Corps. By this point, the offensive had unhinged all of Army Group Center's defenses in southern Belorussia, and Soviet forces were exploiting into a 20 km-wide gap.Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 174, 179–80, 182, 186-87